KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Kentucky will have to go for the season sweep of Tennessee without injured forward Reid Travis.

Travis is set to miss his third consecutive game for Kentucky with a sprained right knee. On Friday, UK coach John Calipari said he doubted Travis would be available against the Vols but left the door open to the possibility of him playing.

However, when the rest of Kentucky's team arrived for warmups before Saturday's 2 p.m. game, Travis watched from the sideline in street clothes.

“One guy’s misery is another guy’s opportunity, so Nick (Richards) and EJ (Montgomery) have a chance to step out," Calipari said Friday. "How we played, PJ (Washington) may be the roughhouse guy."

Travis totaled 11 points and 8 rebounds in that game while limiting Williams to a season-low four field-goal attempts. He has taken at least twice that many shots in all but one other game this season.

Kentucky cruised to a 27-point win against Auburn in its first game after Travis' injury but had to rally from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat an Arkansas team on a five-game losing streak in its second game without him Tuesday.

"I think there’s a reason why Reid Travis was out there," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said after playing Kentucky. "He was playing really well. Against a team with a bigger, more dominant frontline player, it could bother them without him -- but not against us."

That challenge will come Saturday in the form of the 6-foot-7, 236-pound Williams, the reigning SEC Player of the Year.

Washington, who scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the first game against Tennessee, figures to draw the defensive assignment on Williams, as he did in the 2018 meetings with the Vols, but should Washington encounter early foul trouble, pressure on Montgomery and Richards to carry the load will increase.

"Hopefully we create great opportunities for each other, but it’s going to be rough," Calipari said Friday. "You’re going to have to make shots with a body on you. If you watch the tape, Reid was unbelievable keeping an eye on Williams defensively (in the first game). Never really lost him, yet he still blocked shots. Are we capable of doing that with the guys we have? I don’t know. We’re going to see."

UK announced on Feb. 20 Travis was expected to miss at least two weeks with the injury. That time frame would put him on track for a possible return Tuesday at Ole Miss or Saturday in the regular-season finale against Florida.

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